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Weekend road closures

Metro drivers are urged to plan ahead this weekend for road closures and detours.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation reports that eastbound I-94 between highways 55 and 280 will close at 10 p.m. Friday. Detours will be posted. Eastbound I-94 will also be reduced to a single lane before the Lowry tunnel.

All ramps will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.

The road work will include the installation of "Smart Lanes" — electronic signs over the roadway that warn drivers of road conditions ahead.

This will be the final weekend of closures on Eastbound I-94 as crews work to finish resurfacing the roadway, said MnDOT spokesman Kent Barnard.

"We are going to finish up all the work out there that actually started last year," Barnard said. "Much-needed relief for drivers who use the 94 corridor.

"We got the first stretch of it done last year between the edge of downtown St. Paul over toward Highway 280, and now we are basically going between Highway 280 and Minneapolis."

Both directions of I-35W between highway 694 and the north junction of highway 10 will also close from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. Crews are demolishing two bridges on highway 10 over I-35W for reconstruction.

Crews also will replace a storm sewer culvert running beneath I-35W just north of I-694 while the roadway is closed.

"Please give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination. Be patient out there," Barnard said. "We are all in the same boat, but when we are done the results are going to be worth the minor inconvenience"